Upper Lake >> Cynthia Hart-Button was 32 years old when she finally learned of her Native American heritage. Not wanting his children to suffer through the same traumas he had suffered throughout his life, her father had kept that part of himself from Hart-Button and her sister. It wasn’t until he began to lose a battle against cancer that he revealed to his children he was of the Lakota people.
Then he told Hart-Button something that she initially wrote off as the confused words of a dying man: she would one day become the protector of the white buffalo, and she needed to lead the sacred animals to their destiny.
Looking back, she considers this her first calling.
The second calling occurred when Hart-Button embarked on a vision quest. While living for a year alone in the Cascade Mountains, she said that the White Buffalo Calf Woman, a sacred figure central to the Lakota people, came to her. The White Buffalo Calf Woman told Hart-Button she needed her help to protect the white buffalo.
Hart-Button’s third and final calling came when she returned home. She received a phone call from a man who owned a white buffalo herd, and he required her help. She journeyed to his property near the Grand Caynon, where she assisted him until his passing. He left the animals to her, with a dying wish that she take them to the coastlines of Oregon and California.
“Once they reached the coastlines, world peace would begin,” Hart-Button explained.
This is the story of how the White Bison Association started. The association is a non-profit that works to protect the animals sacred to the Lakota people by providing care in a no-kill sanctuary operated out of Upper Lake. They also help promote white buffalo population growth by working with DNA-tested breeding programs out of Davis.
Fourteen white buffalo and five brown live and roam free in the White Bison Association’s sanctuary. This was part of her goal from the beginning. When Hart-Button inherited the animals, she didn’t want them in a zoo or paraded around. Instead, she desired to demonstrate what it looked like when the buffalo live as they are supposed to — as a herd.
Unfortunately, buffalo are worth more dead than alive, so the White Bison Association has to keep their herd hidden. If someone is interested in setting foot on the ranch and seeing the buffalo, they can buy a membership. Hart-Button and staff screen all applicants and visitors.
The White Bison Association has been operating out of Upper Lake for a year and four months, but if they don’t find a new ranch soon, they’ll have to head out — the ground where they currently reside is too wet for the buffalo, and the dampness isn’t good for their lungs.
That’s the thing about the white buffalo, Hart-Button commented — wherever they go, it starts raining. When they first arrived in Lake County, the ground was dry, and the drought was in full swing. That certainly isn’t the case anymore. When the buffalo went to Oregon, the rains came then, too.
“We felt they were here to help the people,” said Hart-Button.
The White Bison Association has many goals, and their most lofty pursuit is also the simplest — peace. They don’t concern themselves with politics or religious denominations. They only want to help people reach spiritual understanding, to help them find peace within their hearts and their homes.
“We feel the teachings of the white buffalo … will help people become more peaceful,” Hart-Button said. “We’re just peace keepers. It’s hard to be peaceful these days.”
She described it as a mission, and she’s not sure what the next one will be. The White Bison Association could stay here a while longer, or they could move on. But even if they do pack up and leave, their impact will remain, thanks to an art gallery in Upper Lake.
What used to be called the Upper Lake Gallery has recently become the White Bison Gallery. The establishment’s owner, Thomas Chen, recently teamed up with the White Bison Association to raise money for the non-profit. Sales from his gallery will go to the association, and he will also feature artwork of the sacred animal.
But the gallery is just the beginning. Chen and Hart-Button hope that by bringing in funds through the White Bison Gallery, they can one day open an after school program for children with autism. The vision is a learning center close to nature and the buffalo herd, a quiet place where kids can feel safe and learn in an environment that is right for them.
“A lot of autistic children don’t have after school activities,” said Hart-Button. “We just want to be a center to support them.”
Both Chen and Hart-Button have family members who are developmentally disabled. They feel it is important to provide a space specifically for children with special learning needs, so that “they bloom and find their own communication with people,” Hart-Button said.
Chen also hopes local artists will teach at the learning center, which would benefit not only the children utilizing the center, but the community as a whole. “The more artists the better,” he said. “When artists come they inspire people.”
The White Bison Gallery has a host of new artists for the month of May, with Sunshine Austina as the featured artist. Art by Denise Rushing, Carolyn Hawley, Anu Ylonen, Joaquin Torrez and Michael Craigwood will also be adorning the walls. Profits from the sale of this work will go to the White Bison Association.
Today, Saturday and Sunday, the gallery will host artist receptions from 12 p.m. -7 p.m. Linda Brown will perform harp music today at 5 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. On Saturday at 5 p.m. Blair Teagraden will play live music., and then at 6 p.m. the Far East Dragon Lion Dance Association will perform a lion dance with live drumming.
The White Bison Gallery is located at 9451 Main St. in Upper Lake.
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
